Mike Pingitore

{{Short description|American banjo player}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Mike Pingitore

| image = Mikepingitore.jpg

| background = non_vocal_instrumentalist

| birth_name =

| birth_date = October 14, 1888

| birth_place = San Francisco, California, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1952|10|30|1888|10|14}}

| death_place = North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S.

| genre = Jazz

| occupation = Musician

| instrument = Banjo

| years_active = 1919–1948

| label =

| associated_acts = Paul Whiteman

}}

{{Cite web |title=Join Ancestry® |url=https://www.ancestry.ca/offers/join?dbid=60901&gsfn&gsln&h=1214015&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ancestry.ca%2Fdiscoveryui-content%2Fsearch%2Fcollections%2F60901%2Frecords%2F1214015 |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=www.ancestry.ca}}Michael "Mike" Pingitore (or Pingatore; October 14, 1888– October 30, 1952) was a member of Paul Whiteman's Orchestra.{{cite book |title=Louis Armstrong & Paul Whiteman: Two Kings of Jazz |last=Berrett |first=Joshua |year=2004 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=0-300-10384-0 |page=17 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sXdsTTQqUjkC&q=%22Mike+Pingitore%22+banjo+Whiteman%27s&pg=PA17 }} Whiteman discovered him playing tenor banjo and he became part of the rhythm section for his newly-formed band for the Alexandria Hotel in Los Angeles (later known as the original Whiteman band), {{cite book |title=Pops: Paul Whiteman, King of Jazz |last=Delong |first=Thomas |year=1983 |publisher=New Century |isbn=0-8329-0264-0 |page=34, 35, 55 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qKG0AAAAIAAJ&q=Pops+king+of+jazz }} playing there for its entire existence (1919–1948) except for a brief period in 1923 due to illness. Pingitore played banjo on Art Mooney's "I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover", which was a number one hit on the Billboard magazine pop chart in 1948.{{cite web |url=http://musicweird.blogspot.com/2014/09/radios-first-filibuster-gave-art-mooney.html |title="Radio's first filibuster" gave Art Mooney an unlikely hit in 1948 |last1=Adams |first1=Greg |date=September 13, 2014 |website=Music Weird |accessdate=September 13, 2014 }} He was inducted into the American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame in 2005.{{Cite web|url=https://americanbanjomuseum.com/american-banjo-museum-hall-of-fame-members/ |title=Hall of Fame Members |date=January 24, 2019 |website=americanbanjomuseum.com}}